Skip to main content

The Online Citizen (TOC) Faces POFMA Directive Over Death Penalty Article

 


Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed The Online Citizen (TOC) to issue correction notices under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) for an article and related social media posts published on Nov 22, 2024. The alternative news outlet was instructed to place the correction notices on its website, Facebook, Instagram, and X posts.

MHA stated that TOC’s article falsely alleged that Singapore suppresses dissenting views on the death penalty through the use of POFMA correction directions. The ministry clarified that POFMA directions are only issued when false statements of fact are communicated, and if it is in the public interest to address them.

According to MHA, the correction directions do not demand the removal of the original content or adoption of the government’s position. Instead, they require recipients to publish the government’s clarification alongside the original post to allow readers to compare the claims and clarifications.

TOC’s article also claimed that Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam had taken contradictory positions on Singapore’s drug policies during an interview with CNN. However, MHA argued that TOC misrepresented the minister’s statements by omitting critical context.

The ministry emphasized that Mr. Shanmugam had highlighted Singapore’s success in managing its drug problem relative to other countries, attributing it to the nation’s zero-tolerance drug policies, including the death penalty. Citing survey findings, he noted the public perception of the death penalty as a deterrent to serious crimes like drug trafficking.

MHA deemed TOC’s selective quotation of the minister misleading and factually incorrect, as it failed to reflect the context of his statements.

The government’s Factually website has also published a detailed clarification addressing the inaccuracies in TOC’s article. By Tuesday, TOC had complied with the directive by adding correction notices to its article and related social media posts.



Labels:
Location: Singapore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chinese National Jailed After Repeated Illegal Entries and Bribery Scandal

  On July 15, 2025, Chen Guangyun, a 39-year-old Chinese national, was sentenced to three years’ jail and six strokes of the cane after being convicted of four counts of graft and two immigration-related offences. His offences spanned across years and involved multiple illegal entries into Singapore, the bribery of a police officer, and other criminal conduct. Chen first came to Singapore lawfully on October 20, 2014, but overstayed his visa. He was convicted on January 25, 2017, for overstaying and other offences, for which he received a six-month jail sentence and three strokes of the cane. He was deported in June 2017 and banned from re-entering the country. However, Chen defied the ban and returned illegally by boat. He was caught by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers and was charged again on June 8, 2019, for immigration offences. This marked the beginning of a prolonged cycle of illegal conduct involving bribery and multiple offences. In or around 2019, Chen...
Post a Comment
Read more

$233K Scam on Tampines Town Council: Contractor Jailed

A 59-year-old managing director who overcharged Tampines Town Council by falsifying invoices for water pumps has been sentenced to three weeks’ jail. Zhang Shuyan, who ran FYH Integrated with his wife, pleaded guilty in April to one count of falsifying accounts, and was sentenced on May 13. The case involved a significant misuse of public funds. From April 2016 to July 2017, FYH was under a contract with Tampines Town Council to service and replace water pumps in Housing Board (HDB) estates. According to the contract, a schedule of rates specified the prices for various pump types, including the less expensive single-stage pumps and the pricier multi-stage versions. Over the course of the year, Zhang’s firm replaced 267 single-stage water pumps in Tampines but falsely billed the town council for multi-stage pumps, which cost more than $1,400 each. Single-stage pumps cost only about $550. FYH submitted 203 inflated invoices, leading the town council to pay more than $380,000—an overpaym...
Post a Comment
Read more